AO Ermis Zoniana F.C., short for Athlitikos Omilos Ermis Zoniana Football Club and simply known as Ermis Zoniana, is a Greek

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in the village of

Zoniana Zoniana ( el, Ζωνιανά) is a town and a former municipality in the Rethymno regional unit, Crete, Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern ...

, located in the regional unit of Rethymno on the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

. The club currently competes in the local Rethymno FCA A Division, having previously played for several seasons in the

Gamma Ethniki The Gamma Ethniki ( el, Γ΄ Εθνική Ερασιτεχνική Κατηγορία, C National Amateur Division) is the third highest football league in Greece. History The Gamma Ethniki began in 1965 as an amateur championship, while in 198 ...

, the third tier of the

Greek football league system The Greek football league system includes four levels in which teams can possibly make it to the Super League 1, Greece's highest division of football. Cup eligibility Greek Football Professional Cup: Levels 1 to 2 Greek Football Amateur Cup: L ...

History

Ermis Zoniana was founded in 1964 by a group of residents in the village of

and originally took part in Rethymno regional competitions. Over the years, the club ascended to the top-level Rethymno FCA Regional Championship, which the club won during the 2011−2012 season to earn promotion to its first ever national competition, the Delta Ethniki, which used to be the fourth tier of the

. In what proved to be the final season in competition history (before the

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also re ...

and

were merged for the 2013−2014 season onward to form the new third level of the Greek football league pyramid), Ermis Zoniana earned a consecutive promotion to the reformed

, finishing 4th in the 2012−2013 Delta Ethniki Group 10 league table. The club failed to avoid relegation in its inaugural season in the competition, but managed to make a swift return by once again winning the 2014−2015 Rethymno FCA Championship. In the

2015–16 Gamma Ethniki The 2015–16 Gamma Ethniki was the 33rd season since the official establishment of the third tier of Greek football in 1983. It started on 27 September 2015 and ended on 8 May 2016. 64 teams were separated into four groups, according to geographi ...

season, the club finished 6th in Group 4, thus staying clear of relegation. During the club's tenure in the

, Ermis has had the opportunity to play against Greek giants AEK Athens during its debut season, as well as historic

Cretan Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

ex- Superleague clubs

OFI Crete OFI may refer to: * Overseas Filipino Investors, Filipino expatriates who contribute to the economy of the Philippines through remittances, buying property, and creating businesses * OFI Crete, a Greek association football club based on the island ...

and

Ergotelis The Gymnastics Club «Ergotelis» Heraklion Crete ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος «O Εργοτέλης» Ηρακλείου Κρήτης, Γ.Σ. Εργοτέλης), commonly known simply as Ergotelis ( el, Εργοτέλης), ...

in later editions of the competition. Ermis actually managed to claim an impressive victory over

during the

, recording a 1−0 home win on 22 November 2015.

Honors

Domestic titles and honors

* Rethymno FCA Championship winners: 2 ** 2011−12, 2014−15 * Rethymno FCA Cup Winners: 1 ** 2012−13

References

{{Football in Greece Football clubs in Rethymno Football clubs in Crete Association football clubs established in 1964 1964 establishments in Greece